The fluctuating supply of materials used to make animal glues makes the availability of a replacement extremely desirable. There is an ever increasing need for shipping boxes as metropolitan areas grow with general population growth. More items must be shipped longer distances to market, and adhesives must be adapted for automated box-making equipment as labor costs increase.
Remoistenable adhesives are required for many applications, particularly corrugated box manufacture. For many years, animal glues obtained from the hooves, hides, and other water soluble proteinaceous portions of cattle, sheep, horses and pigs slaughtered for market have provided the bulk of the adhesives used to coat pregummed tapes. Such tapes are used in automatic box-making machines, which wet and apply the pregummed adhesive tapes very rapidly.